Visit General Conference Tips for information about attending an ALA conference, including tips on finding funding for attending the conference, what to do before you attend, and how to make the most of the conference when you get home.

For specific, up to date information about the ALA Conference beyond YALSA's slate of programs and events, please visit the ALA Annual Conference Website.

Registration, Travel and Hotel Information

Early bird registration for ALA Annual is open now through March 3. Advance registration is available March 4 through June 20. Learn more and register on the ALA site.

Save on airfare! Book your travel through Gant Travel, the official travel coordinator for ALA’s 2014 Annual Conference.

Gant will offer the lowest fares and customize your travel itinerary to suit your travel needs. Book on-line through Gant and save!

Special meeting discounts are available for attendees and their guests on American or Delta Air Lines. Gant automatically applies the applicable discount at time of ticketing. You may book via agent assistance or book online and save! Discounts apply to U.S. point of sale. Airline terms and restrictions may apply. The service fee is $25 for agent assistance and only $10 if you book travel online.

Shuttles at ALA Las Vegas

A free shuttle will run from the convention center to many of the official ALA hotels.

Roommates

Looking for a roommate for the event? Leave a message looking for someone in this space. Please include your contact information!

Convention Center Information

Location: The 2014 ALA Annual Conference will be held in the Las Vegas Convention Center at 3150 Paradise Road. This is a pretty huge convention center, so be sure you know where your meeting rooms are, or you could waste a lot of time wandering around.

YALSA Programs & Ticketed Events

YALSA Friday Workshop: 21st Century Teens: Literacy in a Digital World Friday, June 27, 8:00am-4:00pm. Flamingo Hotel, Savoy room.
This is a free workshop that you may apply to attend. Funding is provided by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. Please note: any travel and hotel expenses are the responsibility of the individual. The applications deadline has passed, but interested persons can email noconnor@ala.org to see if their are slots available. This program will address print literacy through an examination of resources such as the Common Core standards and their implication for the work of librarians and library workers serving teens as well as the multiple aspects of the teen digital experience. Using expert speakers, popular authors (Graham Salisbury), and interaction with other participants, attendees will explore a range of topics, including: new methods of collaboration with schools, after school groups and other educational organizations; how to engage reluctant readers and improve service delivery to under-served populations; the impact of content creation, privacy, cyberbullying, and digital relationships will be considered in terms of library services. Relevant YA literature will be used as a prompt for discussion. All attendees will receive 8 hours' worth of continuing education credits. A luncheon sponsored by Blink is included.

Learning Outcomes

Attendees will:

Build a deeper understanding of the multiple types of teen literacies and their application in a library setting

Discover new ways to promote reading for pleasure among teen populations

Identify new and practical approaches to engaging readers across the spectrum of interest and ability

Develop a deeper understanding of the teen experience, especially with regard to digital identity and communication

Gain a deeper understanding of philosophies relating to, and be able to create policies to promote, productive and responsible online behavior and content creation

Build confidence in managing digital relationships with teens

Booklist and YALSA Present: The Michael L. Printz Program and Reception Friday, June 27th, 8-10pm NEW DATE AND FORMAT

Tickets are $34 (event code: YAL3) Paris Hotel, Versailles Ballroom

Kick off your Annual Conference by attending the Michael L. Printz Program and Reception on Friday night! Come listen to Marcus Sedgwick, the 2014 Michael L. Printz winner for his book Midwinterblood speak about his writing. The honor book authors Rainbow Rowell (Eleanor & Park); Susann Cokal (Kingdom of Little Wounds); Sally Gardner (MAGGOT MOON); and Clare Vanderpool (Navigating Early) will respond to questions submitted by librarians and local teens, followed by a reception. The annual award is administered by YALSA and sponsored by Booklist Publications.

Margaret A. Edwards Brunch Saturday, June 28, 10:30am NEW TIME

Tickets are $39 (event code: YAL1) LVH Ballroom B

Come join us for brunch and listen to the winner of the 2014 Margaret A. Edwards Award, Markus Zusak, speak about his writing. The award honors Zusak's significant and lasting contribution to writing for teens, for his books “The Book Thief,” “Fighting Ruben Wolfe,” “Getting the Girl,” and “I Am the Messenger”. The annual award is administered by YALSA and sponsored by School Library Journal magazine.

To add ticketed events to your existing registration, or to register for the Friday pre-conferences without also registering for the main ALA event:(1) By phone: Call ALA at 1-800-974-3084 & ask to add an event to your existing registration; (2)using the unique link in your email confirmation. If you don't have your registration confirmation handy, you can request a copy by emailing alaannual@compusystems.com. Contact Nichole O'Connor at noconnor@ala.org or 1-800-545-2433, x4387 for help.

Programs

The below programs have been selected, by YALSA members, for ALA's Annual Conference in Las Vegas, June 27 - July 1, 2014.

Saturday

Selection Committee Chair Leadership Development, Saturday, 8:30-10am, CAP - Florentine III
This session will be a leadership training session for YALSA's Selection and Award Committee Chairs. All Chairs of selection and award committees and their Board Liaisons are expected to attend. Never been a Selection or Award Committee Chair, but thinking about being one? Come to this event to learn the leadership basics. Appointments to these committees will be made in October, so now is the time to learn what they're all about.

YALSA 101, Saturday, 8:30-10am, CAP - Florentine IV
Are you a member of the Young Adult Library Services Association who's familiar with the basic programs, services and opportunities that the organization has to offer? Are you interested in becoming more involved in the association or are you ready to step up to a leadership position? If so, this event is designed for you! Come learn how to be more involved!

Sci Fi for Librarians Who Don't Like Sci Fi, Saturday, 8:30-10am, LVCC - S221
When you hear Sci Fi do you automatically think of Klingons, light sabers, and robots? Does sitting down for an all-day Star Trek marathon make you cringe? Well, never fear – just because you don’t like Science Fiction doesn’t mean you can’t recommend Science Fiction. This presentation will provide middle school, junior high, and high school librarians assistance with readers’ advisory and collection development in the area of Science Fiction literature.

Best Fiction for Young Adults Teen Luncheon Session, Saturday, 11:00am-12:30pm
The luncheon is for teens who are participating in the BFYA Teen Feedback session and is sponsored by Blink, HMH Bks for Young Readers, Macmillan, Penguin Books for Young Readers, Random House, and Tor/Forge Books.

Teaching Teens How to Fail: Library Spaces and the Maker Movement, Saturday, 1-2:30pm LVCC - S221
The maker movement has already infiltrated many libraries. But who is a maker? What does s/he do? The Free Library of Philadelphia offers maker programs, from e-fashion to printed circuits. Much of the philosophy behind making is mentoring youth in tinkering and experimentation; teaching the making process as one of inquiry and inevitable failed attempts. We see the library as the ideal environment to mentor youth as they learn that it's okay to fail.

Learning Outcomes:

• Participants will be introduced to the maker movement and get a list of comprehensive resources

Best Fiction for Young Adults Teen Feedback Session, Saturday, 1-3pm, LVCC - N205 - 208
Come listen to local teens give feedback on the 2015 Best Fiction for Young Adults Nominations! Do you have a group of teens that are interested in giving their feedback? Apply online here to bring them to the session.

Teens, Turntables, and Tater-Tots: Lunchroom Outreach with CLP - BAM! Saturday, 3-4pm, LVCC - S221
Is your outreach to classrooms dwindling? Ask your schools to “do lunch”! Join librarians from Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s award-winning school outreach program CLP - BAM! as we demonstrate how to develop a cafeteria-based outreach initiative on any scale or budget. Learn how you can give students “a taste” of what your library offers by providing readers’ advisory, circulation, card registration, craft programs, music, gaming, and more to entire school populations—all during lunch!

Learning Outcomes:

• Gain an understanding of the overall structure and success of the CLP-BAM! outreach model, as well as how it can be adapted to any school or community outreach situation.

• Learn how to propose, strategize, and implement a lunchroom outreach program on a scale that fits your needs.

Dynamic Duos: Collaboration between School and Public Library Systems, Saturday, 4:30-5:30pm, LVCC - S219
School Teacher-Librarians and Public Librarians have much to offer each other -- skills, resources, audience -- but realizing a successful collaboration can be difficult. We will explore collaboration from both sides, helping you to really take advantage of your colleagues (in a good way). We'll present the results of a national survey and present multiple models of mutual support. Improve every aspect of your library services while doing less work and having more fun!

Learning Outcomes:

• Understand the benefits of collaboration between schools and public libraries and begin to develop a seamless user-experience for patrons of the two library systems.

• Begin a new collaboration or expand an existing collaboration to better serve teen patrons and help them become lifelong learners.

• Make new friends and learn how to take advantage of other library professionals in a mutually beneficial manner.

• Make new friends and learn how to take advantage of other library professionals in a mutually beneficial manner.

Sunday

The 2014 Alex Awards, Sunday, 10:30am-11:30am, LVCC - S221
The 2014 Alex Award winners--what they are and how to sell them to young adults--are highlighted in this panel presentation. The Alex Award is given to the top 10 books that appeal to young adults, and is administered by YALSA and sponsored by the Margaret Alexander Edwards Trust and Booklist.

The Future of Library Services for and with Teens, Sunday 10:30-11:30am, LVCC - S223
YALSA’s IMLS-funded National Forum on Teens and Libraries was a year-long effort that brought together key stakeholders from the areas of libraries, education, technology, adolescent development and the for-profit and nonprofit sectors to explore the world of young adults and library services for and with this population. This session will discuss the findings from this process and provide an overview of how libraries can adapt to better meet the needs of 21st century teens. Come with ideas and questions! The report is available at www.ala.org/yaforum

The Art of the Author Visit: Connecting Teens with their Favorite Authors, Sunday, 1-2:30pm, LVCC - S221
Want to engage your library’s teens with stand-out author events? Get successful techniques from two youth services librarians who regularly host high-profile authors at their libraries, and hear the insider’s perspective on what makes an ideal library visit from popular YA authors Leigh Bardugo and Jessica Brody. You’ll learn how to build bookseller partnerships, leverage social media to connect with authors and attendees, and put on polished author programs that wow your teens.

Learning Outcomes:

• Best practices for positioning your library as a trusted venue for author visits: building partnerships with local booksellers, making connections with authors, and contacting publicists

• Strategies for running a truly excellent event from beginning to end: keeping the author happy, encouraging interactivity, and expecting the unexpected

A New Vision for Teen Read Week, Sunday, 3-4pm, LVCC - S222
YALSA's Teen Read Week was started in 1998 in order to provide libraries with a dedicated time to highlight all of the great reading and literacy resources and services they provide for teens and their families. YALSA is seeking feedback on how to make sure this event stays relevant and exciting for libraries in the years to come. Bring ideas and questions!

We F'ed Up, But We Fixed It: Thriving When Things Go Wrong, Sunday 4:30-5:30, LVCC - S223
"Failure" doesn't have to be the "f-word." We all fear the program that no one comes to, but we're not alone in failing, and in that empty room is a lesson that can make future efforts successful. A panel of librarians will discuss initiatives that didn't turn out as planned and how they recovered from their mistakes and went on to flourish. Participants will also have the opportunity to workshop their own failures into successes.

Learning Outcomes:

• Participants will have increased confidence in taking risks

• Participants will be empowered to make a case for risk-taking to administration

• Participants will have improved their adaptability and ability to recover from failure

Monday

Care and Feeding of Teen Volunteers, Monday, 8:30-10am, LVCC - N259/261
Is your library bombarded with prospective teen volunteers, but empty of volunteer guidance or projects? Learn tips on how to design an infrastructure so that your volunteers have the maximum impact on your library with the least hassle. We will also discuss ways to incorporate the 40 Developmental Assets for Adolescents into your program, thus creating a volunteer experience that can tie into economic, education and career development, advocacy for your library, and feed into the creation of more robust teen councils and teen programming.

Teen Spaces 201: What’s Next for Teen Spaces in Libraries, Sunday, 10:30-11:30am, LVCC - N253
Learning labs, technology centers, teen centers, makerspaces – there are no shortage of great ideas for creating spaces for teens in libraries. This session is an opportunity to learn more about what these spaces have in common, how to flexibly and creatively create spaces for teens in your library that meet a variety of budget needs and to articulate and learn how to gain support for creating these kind of spaces in your library.

Learning Outcomes:

• Participants would develop an improved understanding of the variety of new and emerging models in library spaces for teens

• Participants will improve their understanding of the common learning goals in these spaces

• Participants will improve their skill in articulating their vision -- and identifying practical next steps - around spaces for teens in their libraries

Energizing Teen Creativity by Letting Go, Monday, 10:30-11:30am, LVCC - N259/261
Learn how the Visalia Branch Library 'let go' of conventional summer reading program methods and let 10 teens plan their own program. In one hour, these teens had the frame work laid out for a murder mystery summer. See how they planned programming, wrote scripts, acted in videos, directed, and filmed each other. Two of the teens created all the graphics used for the websites, posters, bookmarks and t-shirts. Summer 2013 was just the beginning!

Learning Outcomes:

• Engaging teens in their own interests

• Teaching without structured curriculum

• Learning when to take a step back

Deciding What's Next for YALSA, Monday 10:30-11:30am, LVCC - N112
This is session is open to anyone who would like to share ideas about what YALSA can do for them as members, for the library community and/or for teens. This feedback will help shape the development of a new strategic plan. YALSA values your opinion, so please attend and let us know where you think YALSA should focus its energies for next 3 years. Attendees are encouraged to think about how YALSA should evolve in order to be able to address the issues put forth in the report The Future of Library Services for & with Teens: a Call to Action. Light refreshments will be available. YALSA's current strategic plan is available on the YALSA web site. The goal is to have a new plan in place by June 2015.

YALSA's President's Program and Membership meeting, Monday, 1-3pm, LVCC - N255/257
Don't miss the YALSA President's Program titled: A Burning Need to Know: How Passion Connects to Learning' where you'll have the chance to talk with others about how to create learning opportunities for teens in your library and in your community. In this highly interactive program participants will be able to talk with connected learning coaches (librarians from schools, public libraries, and library schools) who will answer questions and facilitate discussion about how to bring the ideas of connected learning into the school and public library for and with teens.

Stranger than Fiction: Reader's Advisory for Nonfiction, Monday 3-4pm, LVCC - N253
Nonfiction for teens has started to come into its own as something beyond report books. YALSA has an award recognizing outstanding nonfiction books and new Common Core standards stress nonfiction titles. But how do you match a reader to the right title? Learn how to apply basic reader’s advisory principles to nonfiction books and learn new ones. Discover how to find new and noteworthy titles, and great nonfiction read-alikes for popular fiction titles.

Learning Outcomes:

• Feel comfortable recommending nonfiction titles to teen readers

• Know of resources to discover quality nonfiction titles

• Know how to nonfiction reading ties in the new common core standards and how quality RA can support curriculum without killing reader interest

Odyssey Award Presentation and Program, 3:30-5:30pm,
Celebrate the spoken word at the 2014 Odyssey Award Presentation featuring clips from the 2014 winners. The Odyssey Award is presented annually to the best audiobook production for youth and co-administered by YALSA and ALSC and is sponsored by Booklist magazine.

YALSA Governance at Conference

YALSA's Board of Directors has three meetings at the ALA conference. Board meetings are open meetings and any individual who is registered for the conference may sit in on the meetings. Also, look for Board members at YALSA's booth, Happy Hour and other social events, where attendees are welcome to chat with board members in those settings. The first 10 minutes of each meeting are set aside for visitors and board members to use as an 'open forum' where anyone can share information, ask questions, etc. The meeting schedule is as follows:

The Board agenda and documents are finalized two weeks prior to the conference and posted online. Anyone interested in viewing the agenda for the Board meeting, as well as the documents that accompany the agenda items, may view or download them from the Governance section of the YALSA web site. To learn about past Board meetings and actions, visit the Governance page on YALSA's web site to read the minutes from past meetings. If you have questions about governance matters or want to share an idea, comment or question, please feel free to contact YALSA's President, or Beth Yoke. To stay up to date on the latest governance and Board issues, check out the YALSAblog. The President will post regular updates during and after the conference.

Meetings of the Board of Directors are open to all members in good standing who wish to listen and observe proceedings. Members are asked to respect the fact that directors have an agenda to discuss and there may not be time for new business. Members are welcome to sit in the chairs around the perimeter of the room so that directors can be seated together for conversing and vote tallies. Members are welcome to share their comments, ideas, requests, etc. during the “Information Forum” that begins each meeting. If there are a number of guests wanting to speak, it may be necessary to set time limits for speaking. Members may not introduce new topics or speak during the board's general business, unless called upon by the President for input.

If you're a YALSA member, that means you're an ALA member, too! You are also welcome to check out the ALA governance meetings that are going on.

YALSA Online at Conference

Here's a handy list of tips for Tweeting in a conference setting (scroll down towards the end of the blog post)

YALSA in the Exhibits

YALSA will have a member booth in the Exhibit Hall. It will be inside the ALA Membership Pavilion.

YALSA Office Area & Staff On-Site

ALA provides an office area to all units where members can go to get badge ribbons, fliers, etc. Location TBD.

Staff are typically not in the office area, but are assisting with the various member programs and meetings.

Other Events of Interest

Ongoing

Friday

Connecting Youth: Key Findings from Learning Labs, Friday, 8:30-9:30 am, Convention Center Room S224
In 2012, IMLS, the MacArthur Foundation, the Urban Libraries Council and the Association of Science-Technology Centers launched an 18-month process for 24 teen-centered "Learning Labs" across the United States. This session will be a conversation about the project, key preliminary findings from NYU's 18-month study and engage in discussion about recommendations in critical areas such as collaboration, teen engagement, space design, staffing models, outcomes and funding strategies. Presenters: Amy Eshleman, Urban Libraries Council and Kiley Larson, Institute of Human Development & Social Change, New York University

Saturday

The ALA “Kitchen Table” Conversations Sat. June 28, 8:00 am 05:00 pm LVH - Executive Boardroom. Limited availability. To ensure a seat, please register (it's free) in advance by contacting Mary Ghikas at ALA (mghikas@ala.org) and providing a 1st and 2nd choice of day/time. ALA will fill spaces on a first-come basis. These conversations with ALA members and attendees will be about their aspirations for ALA as their professional community. These conversations are a step in the process of making ALA an innovation space where members and staff can collaborate and create together.

Sunday

The ALA “Kitchen Table” Conversations Sun. June 29, 8:00 am 05:00 pm LVH - Executive Boardroom. Limited availability. To ensure a seat, please register (it's free) in advance by contacting Mary Ghikas at ALA (mghikas@ala.org) and providing a 1st and 2nd choice of day/time. ALA will fill spaces on a first-come basis. These conversations with ALA members and attendees will be about their aspirations for ALA as their professional community. These conversations are a step in the process of making ALA an innovation space where members and staff can collaborate and create together.

Monday

The ALA “Kitchen Table” Conversations Mon June 30, 8:00 am 05:00 pm LVH - Executive Boardroom. Limited availability. To ensure a seat, please register (it's free) in advance by contacting Mary Ghikas at ALA (mghikas@ala.org) and providing a 1st and 2nd choice of day/time. ALA will fill spaces on a first-come basis. These conversations with ALA members and attendees will be about their aspirations for ALA as their professional community. These conversations are a step in the process of making ALA an innovation space where members and staff can collaborate and create together.

Las Vegas Information

Hello, Las Vegans! Please feel free to add information here that may be of interest to visitors.